Financial Gravity Companies, Inc. 10-K

Item 1A. RISK FACTORS. The Company’s limited operating history may not serve as an adequate basis to judge its future prospects and results of operations . Financial Gravity has a relatively limited operating history. Its limited operating history and the unpredictability of the wealth management and insurance industries make it difficult for investors to evaluate its business. An investor in its securities must consider the risks, uncertainties and difficulties frequently encountered by companies in rapidly evolving markets. 2 The Company will need additional financing to implement its business plan. The Company will need additional financing to fully implement its business plan in a manner that not only continues to expand an already established direct-to-consumer approach, but also allows the Company to establish a stronger brand name in all the areas in which it operates, and to attract new advisors, insurance professionals and tax service providers. In particular, the Company will need additional financing to: · Effectuate its business plan and further develop its product and service lines; · Expand its facilities, human resources, and infrastructure; and · Increase its marketing efforts and lead generation. There are no assurances that additional financing will be available on favorable terms, or at all. If additional financing is not available, the Company will need to reduce, defer or cancel development programs, planned initiatives and overhead expenditures. The failure to adequately fund its capital requirements could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition, and results of operations. Moreover, the sale of additional equity securities to raise financing will result in additional dilution to the Company’s stockholders and incurring additional indebtedness could involve the imposition of covenants that restrict the Company’s operations. The Company’s products and services are subject to changes in applicable laws and regulations . The Company’s business is particularly subject to changing federal and state laws and regulations related to the provision of financial services to consumers. The Company’s continued success depends in part on its ability to anticipate and respond to these changes, and the Company may not be able to respond in a timely or commercially appropriate manner. If the Company fails to adjust its products and services in response to changing legal and/or regulatory requirements, the ability to deliver its products and services may be hindered, which in turn could have an adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition and results of operations. The Company may continue to encounter substantial competition in its business . The Company believes that existing and new competitors will continue to improve their products and services, as well as introduce new products and services with competitive price and performance characteristics. The Company expects that it must continue to innovate, and to invest in product development and productivity improvements, to compete effectively in the several markets in which the Company participates. The Company’s competitors could develop a more efficient product or service or undertake more aggressive and costly marketing campaigns than those implemented by the Company, which could adversely affect the Company’s marketing strategies and have an adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition and results of operations. Important factors affecting the Company's current ability to compete successfully include: · lead generation and marketing costs; · service delivery protocols; · branded name advertising; and · product and service pricing. In periods of reduced demand for the Company's products and services, the Company can either choose to maintain market share by reducing product and service pricing to meet the competition, or maintain its product and service pricing, which would likely sacrifice market share. Sales and overall profitability may be reduced in either case. In addition, there can be no assurance that additional competitors will not enter the Company's existing markets, or that the Company will be able to continue to compete successfully against its competition. 3 The Company may not successfully manage its growth . The Company’s success will depend upon the expansion of its operations and the effective management of its growth, which will place a significant strain on its management and on its administrative, operational, and financial resources. To manage this growth, it must expand its facilities, augment its operational, financial and management systems, and hire and train additional qualified personnel. If it is unable to manage its growth effectively, its business would be harmed. The Company relies on key executive officers, and their knowledge of its business and technical expertise would be difficult to replace . The Company is highly dependent on its executive officers. If one or more of the Company's senior executives or other key personnel are unable or unwilling to continue in their present positions, the Company may not be able to replace them easily or at all, and the Company’s business may be disrupted. Competition for senior management personnel is intense, the pool of qualified candidates is very limited, and it may not be able to retain the services of its senior executives or attract and retain high-quality senior executives in the future. Such failure could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition and results of operations. The Company may never pay dividends to its common stockholders . The Company currently intends to retain its future earnings to support operations and to finance expansion; accordingly, the Company does not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. The declaration, payment, and amount of any future dividends on common stock will be at the discretion of the Company's Board of Directors, and will depend upon, among other things, earnings, financial condition, capital requirements, level of indebtedness and other considerations the Board of Directors considers relevant. There is no assurance that future dividends will be paid on common stock or, if dividends are paid, the amount thereof. The Company’s common stock is quoted through the OTC Markets, which may have an unfavorable impact on its stock price and liquidity . The Company’s common stock is quoted on the OTC Markets, which is a significantly more limited market than the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ. The trading volume may be limited by the fact that many major institutional investment funds, including mutual funds, follow a policy of not investing in OTC Markets stocks and certain major brokerage firms restrict their brokers from recommending OTC Markets stocks because they are considered speculative and volatile. The trading volume of the Company’s common stock has been and may continue to be limited and sporadic. As a result, the quoted price for the Company’s common stock on the OTC Markets may not necessarily be a reliable indicator of its fair market value. Additionally, the securities of small capitalization companies may trade less frequently and in more limited volume than those of more established companies. The market for small capitalization companies is generally volatile, with wide price fluctuations not necessarily related to the operating performance of such companies. The Company’s common stock is subject to price volatility unrelated to its operations . The market price of the Company’s common stock could fluctuate substantially due to a variety of factors, including market perception of the Company’s ability to achieve its planned growth, operating results of the Company and of other companies in the same industry, trading volume in the Company’s common stock, changes in general conditions in the economy and the financial markets or other developments affecting the Company or its competitors. The Company’s common stock is classified as a “penny stock.” Rule 3a51-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 establishes the definition of a “penny stock,” for purposes relevant to us, as any equity security that has a minimum bid price of less than $5.00 per share or with an exercise price of less than $5.00 per share, subject to a limited number of exceptions which are not available to us. It is likely that the Company’s common stock will be considered to be a penny stock for the immediately foreseeable future. 4 For any transaction involving a penny stock, unless exempt, the penny stock rules require that a broker or dealer approve a person’s account for transactions in penny stocks and the broker or dealer receive from the investor a written agreement to the transaction, setting forth the identity and quantity of the penny stock to be purchased. In order to approve a person’s account for transactions in penny stocks, the broker or dealer must obtain financial information and investment experience and objectives of the investor, make a reasonable determination that transactions in penny stocks are suitable for that person, and make a reasonable determination that that person has sufficient knowledge and experience in financial matters to be capable of evaluating the risks of transactions in penny stocks. The broker or dealer must also provide disclosure to its customers, prior to executing trades, about the risks of investing in penny stocks in both public offerings and in secondary trading, the commissions payable to both the broker-dealer and the registered representative, and the rights and remedies available to an investor in cases of fraud in penny stock transactions. Because of these regulations, broker-dealers may not wish to furnish the necessary paperwork and disclosures and/or may encounter difficulties in their attempt to buy or sell shares of the Company’s common stock, which may in turn affect the ability of Company stockholders to sell their shares. Accordingly, the penny stock classification adversely affects any market liquidity for the Company’s common stock and subjects the shares to certain risks associated with trading in penny stocks. These risks include difficulty for investors in purchasing or disposing of shares, difficulty in obtaining accurate bid and ask quotations, difficulty in establishing the market value of the shares, and a lack of securities analyst coverage. The Company’s common stock is subject to dilution. Company’s plan for increasing revenue is to recruit advisors and other professionals. Some of these recruits may be granted stock options or stock rights. These shares are among the shares reserved in Company’s stock option plan (see compensation plans discussion). FINRA Arbitrations . Forta had over 20 FINRA claims pending in 2021 that arise from the sale to clients of alternative investments (REITs, Business Development Loan Funds, and Oil and Gas securities). These income generating investments did not do as well as the stock markets, and the performance has lagged the market. While the exposure on these cases would not be material, the costs of defense for legal fees may be substantial. As part of its annual review of the performance of its subsidiaries, Company has decided to discontinue Forta’s broker/dealer operation and that transition is now in progress. The Company’s performance may be affected by COVID-19. December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus, referred to as COVID-19, was reported to have surfaced in Wuhan, China. Since then, COVID-19 has spread to other countries, including the United States. In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. The financial markets demonstrated significant volatility in reaction to the virus outbreak, and new variants may contribute to volatility. The effects of such COVID-19 variants on the economy are not known. During periods of high volatility and uncertainty many investors choose to stop ongoing investment activity. Revenues of the Company are adversely affected when investors reduce their investment activities. In addition, over 50%t of Company’s revenues is based upon the value of assets under management. If the investment portfolios of clients decrease in value, investment management fees may also decrease. Any significant shutdown of the economy for a sustained period will affect the Company’s revenue which could lead to losses. Item 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS. None. Item 2. PROPERTIES. The Company’s corporate offices are located at 2501 Ranch Road 620 South, Suite 110, Lakeway, Texas 78734. 5 TMN’s offices are located in Cincinnati, OH. Forta has offices in Greenwood Village, Colorado. Company has offices in Carmel, California.